


Silver Linings

by bansheequeen (queenbanshee), xtremeroswellian



Series: The High School Series [15]
Category: Smallville
Genre: Awkward Interruptions, Bestest Cousins, F/M, Gen, Investigations, Lionel Luthor's ulterior motives, Wtf Lionel, heavy make-outs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:33:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23988181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenbanshee/pseuds/bansheequeen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtremeroswellian/pseuds/xtremeroswellian
Summary: Things start heating up between Chloe and Oliver even as Lex and Lois discover information on the girl being hidden at the Luthor mansion.
Relationships: Chloe Sullivan & Lex Luthor, Chloe Sullivan & Lois Lane, Lex Luthor & Lois Lane, Oliver Queen & Lex Luthor, Oliver Queen/Chloe Sullivan
Series: The High School Series [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1728691
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

Days had passed since the party and even though Chloe had spent a lot of time at the mansion, helping Oliver try to find Lutessa, they had had no luck at all. It was like the girl had vanished into thin air. They had been wanting to find out more about what they had found that night before telling Lex, but they both agreed they couldn’t wait anymore. But they also knew they couldn’t have this conversation at the mansion, so they asked Lex to meet them by the woods near Crater Lake that afternoon to talk. Hopefully he would have a better idea on how to find the girl. 

“So, how do we tell him?” Chloe asked Oliver as she slid her fingers through his once they were both out of the car.

“I was kinda planning on telling him that those rumors about his house being haunted were true, except the girl haunting it isn’t exactly a ghost.” 

She smiled, but it was brief. “I just want to know why Lionel is keeping her there like some animal.”

“That’s a very good question.” He led her over to a large boulder and leaned against it.

Chloe stopped in front of him and looked up. “I hope we can find her soon so we can get her out of there.”

“And do what with her?” he asked, voice quiet.

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I guess we need to find out what happened to her first.” 

“I’m starting to think I should just kill Lionel in his sleep.” His tone was joking, but his jaw tightened as he looked out over the lake, avoiding her eyes.

“I would not be upset if he got hit by a meteor,” she agreed, keeping her eyes on Oliver then shifting closer to him. She was still worried that Lionel was going to do something to hurt him, especially since they now knew for sure he was after Queen Industries. 

He slid his arm around her shoulders, and pressed a kiss to her temple. “I’m not sure anyone would be upset about that.” 

Chloe took a deep breath and lifted her hand to his side. “Probably.” She paused and looked up at Oliver. “Do you think she could be some kind of clone?”

“I really have no idea.” He looked down at his feet and then back up at her. “Regardless...she doesn’t deserve to be forced to hide away in the mansion.” 

“No, she doesn’t,” Chloe agreed. “It just makes me wonder what else Lionel is up to.”

Probably who was next on his hit list, he thought, jaw tightening.

“Calm down,” she warned, noticing the look on his face. “Between you, Lex and I, we’ll figure it out.”

“I’m calm,” he told her, meeting her eyes.

“Then why is your jaw all tense?” she asked, lifting a hand to cup his face as she held his gaze.

“You can be tense and calm at the same time,” he told her, leaning into her touch.

“I just don’t want you to do anything on your own,” she said, shifting closer. 

“I know,” he said, cupping her cheek, too.

“Good,” she whispered, leaning in and brushing her lips against his.

The familiar sound of Lex’s car engine approaching broke their embrace and he took a deep breath, glancing over his shoulder.

Chloe straightened and looked at Oliver for a moment then over at Lex as he got out of his car. 

He knew this wasn’t going to be an easy task. How exactly did one break it to a guy that his father was holding someone hostage?

“What’s with all the secrecy?” Lex asked, a smirk on his lips, hands in his pockets as he approached them. 

“Lionel can’t know we know about it, assuming he doesn’t already,” Chloe said. “It’s pretty serious, Lex.”

Oliver gazed at him. “There’s a girl in the mansion.” 

Lex stared at them. “Someone who didn’t leave the party? What do you mean?”

Nodding, Oliver folded his arms across his chest. “A red head. Her name’s Lutessa.” 

“Our ghost? Turned out to be a living person,” Chloe added. 

Lex stared at the two of them and shook his head. “What are the two of you talking about?”

“We’re saying that your dad has a girl locked up in the mansion,” Oliver said, pursing his lips. “I don’t know for how long, but she’s the one behind the screaming and the weird sounds in the place.” 

“He’s keeping some girl at the mansion?” Lex echoed then stared silently at them for a long moment. “Who?”

“All we know is that her name is Lutessa. She’s afraid of Lionel and said bad things would happen if she talked to Ollie.” Chloe glanced over at him before focusing on Lex. “She’s young, younger than us and we’ve been trying to find her again since the party, but she vanished into one of the secret passages and we haven’t been able to find her.”

“I know it sounds crazy,” Oliver admitted. “But it’s true.” 

Lex considered them for a moment then looked away and paced around the woods in silence. “Where did you see her?” he asked after a long moment.

“The attic the night of the party. She’s the one who knocked Chloe out.” 

“And why didn’t you tell me about this before?” he asked, eyes narrowing. 

“Because we wanted to find out more before we did,” Chloe said. “But we weren’t able to and we figured you might have a better idea of where we can find a blueprint of the mansion, or figuring out who this girl is and how to help her.”

Oliver leaned back against the boulder once more. “We thought maybe you might have an idea of who she is, too,” he told Lex.

“I didn’t even know she existed,” Lex said. 

“Do you have any ideas how we can find the secret passages? Or how we can search for them without tipping Lionel that we’re doing it?” Chloe asked.

Both valid questions in Oliver’s opinion. He shifted his gaze from Chloe to Lex, waiting silently.

“Yes. To both,” Lex said. “But not until dad is out of town again. Or in some board meeting we know will last for hours.” 

“I can check with my dad to see if I can find out about board meetings,” Chloe said. “The faster we can do this, the faster we can help her.” 

“If Lionel is hiding her at the mansion, she has to be important, Chloe. Him knowing we have her will make things even more dangerous, especially for you,” Lex said.

“He’s right,” Oliver murmured, not lifting his gaze from the ground. “Lex and I will have to take the lead on this one.” 

“It won’t matter if we do,” Lex said before Chloe protested. “I’m his son, and he wants your company. Chloe is the only one he doesn’t need anything from and he knows to use her to get to us.” 

“I don’t care if I’m in more danger or not, I’m not sitting anything out,” she said anyway, eyes narrowing at Oliver. “Besides, you two are in danger too if what you said about Ollie’s parents is true. And Dr. Swann.” 

Oliver rubbed a hand over his face, pushing himself away from the boulder. “Yeah, but he won’t kill his own son,” he pointed out.

“But he might hurt you,” she said, staring up at Oliver. 

“Which means I should look into this on my own,” Lex said, looking at them.

He didn’t meet her eyes, but he turned his gaze to Lex. “At least at first that might be best,” he agreed quietly.

“Maybe at the mansion,” Chloe said stubbornly. “But we can meet at school, or here and we will help you. You’re not on your own,” she told Lex. 

Lex stared at her for a moment then took a deep breath. “No one else hears about this.”

“Agreed,” Oliver said, nodding.

“Yeah, agreed,” Chloe said too. “But whatever we do, we need to figure out how to help her as soon as possible.”

“And find out who she is,” Oliver added.

“I will,” Lex said, his voice low but firm. 

“We will,” Chloe corrected him. If either of them thought they could get rid of her so easily, they couldn’t be more wrong. 

* * * 

Oliver watched as Lex’s car pulled out of the clearing and then he turned to face Chloe once more. “That went considerably better than I thought it might.” 

“I was expecting him to get angry,” she agreed, then straightened and turned toward Oliver too.

“So was I.” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

“So before Lex comes back with any information,” she said, eyebrows arching. “There’s something I want to make very clear.”

“That you’re not staying out of it,” he said, not looking pleased even though he already knew that’s what the conversation was about.

“Yes,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “And if either of you try to do something without involving me, I will know and I will do my own investigation without the two of you.”

“We’re just trying to protect you from Lionel, Chloe,” he said softly.

“I know what you’re trying to do, but I’m not letting you risk yourself even more just so you can protect me. Besides, I’m better at research than the two of you put together.”

His lips tugged upward in an involuntary smile. “Yes, you are,” he agreed, shifting closer to her and resting his hands on her hips. 

“I’m serious, Oliver. I don’t want you to go after Lionel without me,” she said worriedly. Especially if it was true about his parents, she was afraid he was going to lose it.

Oliver sighed, looking down at the ground for a moment and then back up at her. He lifted a hand to her cheek, brushing his thumb against her skin. “We have to be careful. _Really_ careful,” he murmured. “I can’t lose you, Chloe.” 

Her chest clenched and she looked down for a moment, taking a deep breath before she looked up at him again. “It works both ways. So promise me.”

He leaned in, pressing a chaste kiss against her mouth. “I promise.” 

Chloe let out a breath and wrapped her arms around his neck, shifting closer and kissing him deeply. The fact that her feelings for him were so intense it hurt still scared her. But Lionel getting to him scared her more.

He could feel the tension in her body when she moved closer to him, and he slid his hand down to rest on her back, fingers moving back and forth lightly in an attempt to soothe her as they kissed. After a moment, he rested his forehead against hers, shutting his eyes. 

She took a deep breath and lowered her arms, wrapping them around his back before opening her eyes to look at him. 

It occurred to him that they could run. Get away from Lionel and come back when he was eighteen. But Chloe had family here, and friends. He couldn’t and wouldn’t ask her to leave that all behind just because he wanted to get away from Lionel Luthor. 

“What is it?” she whispered, not liking the look on his face.

“Just wishing I was already eighteen,” he told her, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

Her chest tightened at that and she closed her eyes again. She didn’t want to think about what would happen when he _did_ turn eighteen. “I should drive you back to the mansion.”

“Yeah, before my jailer realizes I skipped out,” he answered.

She tried for a smile then pulled away from him, reaching for her keys in her back pocket. “Just pretend everything is normal, I guess.”

He frowned at the sudden change in her demeanor and laid a hand on her shoulder. “Hey. What is it?” 

“What do you mean?” she asked, stilling. 

“You seem upset all of a sudden.” 

“I just don’t like this,” she said, and it wasn’t entirely a lie. But she wasn’t going to tell him about her inner freak outs. 

“Which part?” he asked, frown deepening.

“You being in danger, mostly,” she said, shaking her head. “But I guess there’s not much more we can do for now.”

He relaxed, winding his arm around her waist and pulling her close to him. “I’ll be fine,” he assured her.

Chloe wrapped her arm around him and nodded. She hoped so, but she couldn’t stop herself from thinking that even if both of them escaped Lionel, there was still a lot that could go wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

Lois Lane wasn’t excited about her first day at Smallville High, but she _was_ glad to be spending time with her favorite person in the world. She had her arm draped around Chloe’s shoulders as they walked from the parking lot toward the school. “It’s bigger than I expected.” 

“Well, the entire town and surrounding areas has to go to school here,” she said, smiling up at Lois. 

“Still. It just seems huge. I mean, not Met U huge, but huge anyway.” 

“Obviously.” Chloe grinned. “So, I’ll show you where the Torch is then take you to get our schedule?”

“I suppose blowing off classes my first day wouldn’t make a great impression.” She smirked, linking their arms together.

“And what would you blow off classes for anyway? You’re in Smallville,” Chloe reminded her. She planned on making sure Lois was actually going to improve her grades while there. 

“Napping 101?” Lois retorted.

“Cute, how about journalism 101?” she asked. 

“Right. What do _I_ know about journalism? I don’t even read the papers.” 

“You’re great at grilling people,” Chloe told her. “I can help you with the writing part and extracurriculars will look great on your transcript.”

“And you need extra help,” Lois guessed, eyeing her suspiciously.

“Clark and Pete are kinda useless. Lex won’t go anywhere near it. Ollie helps when he can but it’s not really his thing,” she admitted. “Besides, you’d get off periods to work on the paper and you’d get to spend more time with me!”

“Why didn’t you just say _that_ part up front?” She grinned.

Chloe grinned brightly and hugged Lois’ arm to her. “Saving the best for last.”

“Speaking of.” Lois arched an eyebrow as they walked down the hallway. “I’m guessing that’s your locker.” She nodded toward where Oliver Queen stood, leaning against a locker, a single orange tulip in his hand. “If not, I’m going to be kicking his ass.” 

“It is,” Chloe said, arching her eyebrows as she looked over at him, her heart beating faster. Why did he have to be so perfect all the time? It made it that much harder to think clearly about what she should do. “Hey,” she greeted him as they approached.

His expression brightened at the sight of her. “Hey,” he said, holding the flower out to her. He offered Lois a smile, too. “Welcome to Smallville High.” 

“Thanks,” Chloe said to him as she let go of Lois’ arm to take the flower. 

Lois looked between them, falling silent for a moment. 

“You’re welcome.” He kissed her cheek.

Her heart skipped a beat and she couldn’t help but smile brightly up at him. “Lois will be helping me with the Torch, so you’re off the hook.”

“Helping you’s never felt like a hook,” he assured her.

Chloe shook her head. “You’re welcome to continue, in that case.”

He smiled, nodding. “I assume you’re showing Lois around today?” 

“Yeah.” She glanced at her cousin then back. “We need to get to the Torch, then get her schedule.”

“Okay. I’ll see you in bio,” Oliver told her with a wink. 

“See you soon,” she said, then paused. “By the way, have you heard from Lex?”

“I’ve barely seen him since Saturday,” he said.

“Yeah, me too.” Chloe tried her best not to look disappointed. “We better go, see you.” She leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

Oliver smiled softly at that, nodding. “See you soon,” he agreed, heading down the hallway.

She watched him go then turned back to Lois. “Torch?”

“Absolutely.” Lois smiled, taking her arm again.

“So do you miss Metropolis yet?” Chloe asked, shifting her flower carefully in her hand as she stepped closer to her cousin.

“Nah. How could I when I’m here with my favorite cousin?” 

“It’s good to have you around,” she said, smiling.

“Well, _yeah_.” Lois beamed.

Chloe laughed and shook her head, then pulled her cousin upstairs. “C’mon.”

* * * 

With Ollie and Lois joining them at their table for lunch, they felt like a much bigger and louder (mostly thanks to Lois) group than before. It was nice. Chloe felt like thanks to the craziness that was the party, they had all bonded and already felt like a group. Of course, Lois had always been great at fitting in and the fact that Lex and Ollie seemed to be genuinely getting along helped a lot. 

“He seems pretty relaxed,” Chloe whispered to Ollie as she glanced at Lex, who was talking to Lois about beer.

“Yeah, he does,” he murmured, also watching Lex and Lois. He caught sight of Clark giving them a curious look, but he simply smiled, even though it was tense.

Chloe smiled at Clark too, but reached to place her hand over Ollie’s leg when she saw the tense smile he was giving. That wasn’t going to help their case.

He looked away from Clark, taking a bite of his pizza and covering her hand with his own. “You working on the Torch after school?” 

“Yeah, for a little bit. Are you coming by?” she asked, sipping on her soda.

“Definitely.” He gave her hand a light squeeze.

“Good, I can give you a ride if Lex is leaving early,” she told him. She still missed him spending the night with her but considering the mess her feelings were, some space was probably good.

“That’d be good.” Oliver nodded, reaching for his water bottle. 

“I can drop Lois off at the house first, and then take you home?” Some space was good, but that didn’t mean she didn’t miss having time alone with him. 

“Even better.” He winked at her. 

She grinned at that and turned her hand in his, giving it a squeeze. “Good.”

Oliver slid his fingers through hers. “Maybe we can swing by the Talon and grab some dinner?” 

“Yeah,” she agreed, squeezing his hand. “Coffee does count as dinner, right?” 

“No, coffee counts as a drink.” He smirked. “But I’m buying.” 

“Wait, because you’re buying, does that mean you can tell me what to eat?” she asked suspiciously. “Because coffee counts as a whole meal, ask Lois.”

He gave her a look. “I don’t care what you eat as long as you actually eat. You can also have as much coffee as you want.” 

“Deal,” she said, mostly teasing. 

Lana looked between them, smiling softly. She nudged Clark with her elbow. “They’re too cute,” she whispered.

Clark blinked and focused on Lana. “Huh?” 

“Chloe and Oliver. They’re cute.” She nodded toward them slightly.

“Oh,” Clark said, turning his attention to them. “I guess at least everyone gets along now.”

She sighed and finished her food. “I gotta get to class. I told Lisa I’d help her with the assignment.” 

“I’ll walk you,” Clark said, standing up instantly. 

“We should go too, I still gotta get my book from the Torch,” Chloe said, glancing at Ollie.

“And biology is calling our name,” he teased, rising to his feet and picking up both their empty trays.

“You’ll be okay getting to your class, Lo?” Chloe asked. 

“I’ll show her where it is,” Lex told her, glancing over at Lois and smiling faintly.

Chloe arched her eyebrows then nodded. “I’ll see you guys later,” she said before following Ollie.

“I think Lex has a crush on your cousin,” Oliver said as he led the way out of the cafeteria, a smile playing at his lips.

“I was just thinking that,” she said, glancing over her shoulder then looking back at Ollie. “And the thought of Lois and Lex dating scares me a little.”

“Does it?” He raised his eyebrows. 

“They would get in so much trouble together,” Chloe said, reaching for his hand without thinking about it.

He took her hand, tangling their fingers together. “You have a point there.” 

“But it might be good for them,” she said, shrugging. At least it’d make Lex less lonely. She’d been around Clark and Lana long enough to know how much it sucked to play third wheel. 

Oliver squeezed her fingers gently, swinging their hands back and forth a little as he led her toward the Torch office. “It’ll be interesting to watch.” 

“I guess we’ll see what happens, but my guess is that we’ll eventually find them passed out drunk at the wine cellar. Hopefully clothed,” she added, making a face.

He grimaced, too. “Yes, hopefully,” he agreed.

“At least Lois won’t mind spending more time at the mansion?” Chloe said, a grin appearing on her lips as she looked up at him.

“Lots of silver linings today.” He smiled faintly as she opened the door to the Torch and he tugged her closer to him once they were inside. 

“Here’s another one,” she said, dropping her purse on her desk before wrapping her arms around him. “We still have plenty of time before we need to get to biology.”

“Which is why I wasn’t sad to leave lunch early.” He grinned and wrapped his arms around her, too, dipping his head and kissing her. 

She kissed him back and lifted a hand to the back of his neck as she shifted closer to him.

He picked her up without warning, setting her down on the desk and grinning against her mouth. 

Her eyes widened but she adjusted on the desk without pulling away, then tilted her head up to kiss him better.

Oliver lifted his hand to her cheek, tucking the hair behind her ear as he slowly deepened the kiss, his thumb rubbing against her skin. 

Chloe lifted her hands to his hips and pulled him closer, the idea of skipping biology sounding better and better by the second.

He broke the kiss a moment later, dropping a kiss against her jaw, and then one to her ear. “Have I mentioned you look beautiful?” 

She shivered and grinned, keeping her eyes closed. “Maybe once,” she teased, her heart beating fast as she slid her hands under his shirt, touching his sides.

“Hm. Well, you look beautiful.” He kissed her neck, licking her skin ever-so-lightly.

Chloe shifted toward the edge of the desk, wanting to be closer to him as she brushed her fingers over his skin then squeezing his sides in her hands lightly.

Oliver stilled as she shifted close enough to feel the effect she was having on him. Then he pressed another kiss against her jaw, pulling away to look at her, eyes darker than usual.

The look on his face was enough to make her want him even more than she already did. Since the party she couldn’t stop thinking about it, but with trying to find Lutessa and everything, they hadn’t had too much time alone. Now though, she didn’t want to stop. “How much trouble would you be in if we skipped biology?” she asked, completely serious as she pressed her body against his and moved her hands further inside his shirt, resting them on his bare back.

He sucked in a breath, staring at her, gaze intense. “Define trouble,” he answered, sliding his hand down to rest at her hip.

Chloe licked her lips, her mouth suddenly feeling dry. “Lionel type of trouble.” Because she didn’t want to make things worse for him, but her house was very much empty right now.

“He won’t be happy,” he said honestly, chewing the inside of his cheek. “But I don’t care.” He slid her shirt up just a little, touching her bare skin.

She shivered and took a deep breath. “I don’t want you to get into even more trouble,” she whispered, running her fingers over his back then leaning in and kissing the corner of his mouth.

“Trouble sounds pretty tempting at the moment,” he told her, sliding his hand up her back and letting it rest there.

“I know.” She swallowed hard then forced herself to pull back and look at him. “But I don’t want to see you even less.”

He leaned his forehead against hers, closing his eyes and letting his other hand rest on her hip. “Me either.” He sighed.

Chloe sighed too then kissed his cheek. “We can go somewhere other than the Talon this afternoon.”

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly, looking at the floor.

“Why?” she asked, brushing her nose against his so he’d look at her. She just hoped he wasn’t apologizing for making out because she wanted nothing more than to continue this.

“For not being able to do normal stuff like sneak off with my girlfriend in place of class.” He pursed his lips.

“I don’t _care_ about that,” she said, tilting her head to catch his eye. “I care about you being safe. Besides, like I said, we can go after school. Torch work can wait.”

“Okay.” Oliver kissed her temple, hugging her to him as the bell rang. 

Chloe took a deep breath and pulled her hands from inside his shirt, then hugged him back. “Promise you won’t be upset over this?”

She knew him too well, he thought, resting his head against hers. “Promise,” he whispered.

“Good, because I plan on looking forward to this afternoon, and not having to worry about my mopey boyfriend,” she teased, holding his gaze and smiling.

He smirked at that. “Don’t worry. I won’t be moping.” 

“That’s better.” She grinned then kissed him once more before sliding from the desk. 

Oliver watched her as she gathered her things once more. “Biology it is.” At least they sat next to each other there.

“Maybe we’ll get lucky and there’ll be a movie,” she said, sliding her book under her arm. 

“We can hope.” He picked up his own books and followed her toward the door.

“Might be harder to keep our hands to ourselves if it is, though,” she teased, smirking at him over her shoulder before walking out of the office.

He met her eyes and simply grinned.


	3. Chapter 3

Since Lex and Lois said they were gonna hang out after school, Chloe figured she and Ollie could just go over to her house, at least they knew there were no cameras there, and only two other people had keys. Her dad wouldn’t be home from work until later, so they should have plenty of time to pick up where they left off at the Torch. And she _wanted_ to pick up and continue. 

“Come in,” she invited needlessly as she stepped inside the house.

He smiled at her, stepping inside her house and glancing around a little nervously. “Thanks.” 

Chloe listened for a moment, but since her dad’s car wasn’t outside, she knew they were good. “Do you wanna go upstairs?” she asked, chewing on her bottom lip.

“Yeah,” he said, nodding as he turned to look at her.

She smiled nervously up at him and reached for his hand, tugging on it before starting upstairs. Now that they were there, she was nervous, but they had been dating for almost four months already and she wanted to explore. Besides, it wasn’t really fair that he had seen her mostly naked and she didn’t remember seeing him. 

Oliver slid his fingers through hers, letting her lead him up the stairs to her bedroom. It had been awhile since he’d last been there, but things hadn’t changed much. He did take note of a picture of the two of them in a frame by her bed that made him smile. He picked it up, gazing at it for a moment and then glancing at her sideways.

She grinned at him and shrugged as she dropped her purse over her computer chair. “Doesn’t matter if dad sees it now.”

“I like it,” he said softly, carefully setting it down once more. 

“Me too,” she said, stepping closer to him again. Especially since the picture had been taken on their Valentine’s Day dance at the Kitchen. Both the place and the day meant a lot to them. It was where they started talking again and why they started dating. And it had been the first time he’d spent the night with her, and the night he told her he had feelings for her.

Oliver reached out, resting his hands on her hips. “Before anything happens, I want you to know that I’m not rushing you and if you want to stop at any point--” 

“I know,” she assured him shifting closer and lifting her hands to his arms. “And ditto. Also, if I’m doing anything wrong, I want you to tell me.”

“Likewise,” he said seriously, searching her eyes.

“Okay,” she whispered, holding his gaze then leaning in and kissing him softly.

He reached up, tucking some hair behind her ear as he kissed her back, shifting closer to her and letting his eyes drift shut. He slid his hands down to rest against her back.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed closer to him, deepening the kiss. Her heart was beating fast against her chest, but she was okay with going slow.

After a long moment, Oliver pulled away to look at her, his eyes unfocused. “Want to get more comfortable?” he suggested, glancing at her bed.

“Yeah,” she said quietly, glancing over her shoulder then back at him.

He drew in a breath and slid his hand down her arm til he reached her hand, gently tugging her toward the edge of the bed. He sat down, moving back on the bed and letting her decide what she wanted to do from there. 

She looked at him for a moment, she knew he was letting her take the lead because he had already done everything before, but she wasn’t sure what to do. She knew they were both okay with this, but she didn’t want to ruin anything. Although, she also knew that if she didn’t take a step forward, he wouldn’t. So she decided to go with her instincts and knelt on the bed, keeping her eyes on him as she moved closer, to make sure it was okay.

Oliver offered her a soft smile, holding his hand out wordlessly. It wasn’t just that he had done everything before and that’s why he wanted her to take the lead. It was that he knew that Chloe was a good girl. More than that even, he actually loved her. That was new for him. New and a little scary.

Chloe smiled back, relaxing as she took his hand, hesitating before straddling his lap. It worked in her head, so she hoped it was practical enough. 

He shifted beneath her, then rested his hands on her hips to steady her. He tugged her toward him gently, wanting to kiss her again.

She relaxed even more and sat on his lap, leaning in and brushing her nose against his, feeling more confident that this was okay so far.

Oliver couldn’t help but grin when their noses touched. He captured her lips in a kiss once more, slowly sliding one hand up the back of her shirt, his fingers coming into contact with her bare skin as it had earlier that day. It was soft, smooth skin and he wanted to touch it with his lips, but that would wait until she was ready.

Chloe shivered at the feel of his warm hands against her skin, a smile on her lips even as she kissed him back. Once she stopped thinking, she knew it would be easier to do this, and kissing him usually helped a lot with that.

Not thinking sounded like a great idea to him, and he felt his own mind began to go into sleep mode as they kissed. He slid his hand a little higher up, his fingers trailing lightly over the bottom of her bra. 

She held her breath then shifted closer to him on his lap, lowering her hands to the hem of his shirt and pulling it up slightly, deepening the kiss.

Several moments of kissing left him breathless and he broke their contact, heart beating fast. “Do you want me to take off my shirt?” he asked, trailing a circle on her back with one finger.

Chloe paused and cocked her head, looking at him for a moment. “Well, since you’re offering,” she said, grinning shyly then pulling it up.

He smiled at her response, helping her remove the shirt and discarding it on the floor. He raised his eyebrows as he leaned back on his elbows. 

She bit down on her bottom lip and arched her eyebrows at him. “Showing off?” she teased as he leaned back, but didn’t waste time before reaching out to touch his bare chest.

“Maybe,” he admitted with a little grin and a shrug. His muscles flexed underneath her fingertips.

“Not bad,” she said, grinning but focusing on his chest and stomach as she brushed her fingers lightly over his skin all the way down to where it met his jeans.

Oliver watched her intently. He knew it wasn’t going to take much more than this to make his jeans very uncomfortable, but he didn’t protest her exploration.

She looked at him for a moment, then grinned and leaned closer and pressed her lips to his neck tentatively.

He shut his eyes, sucking in a breath and letting his free hand trail up her body to cup the back of her neck, mumbling his approval. 

Chloe grinned softly, shifting even closer and moving her lips over his collarbone and pressing a kiss there.

“Okay, everything you’re doing is amazing,” he informed her.

She pulled back to look at him and smiled, her face warm. “Yeah?” she asked, at least spending hours on the internet was useful for something. 

“Definitely,” he assured her, opening his eyes to look at her again.

“Good,” she said more confidently, holding his gaze before leaning in and pressing her lips to his chest, running her hands over his sides.

He slid his hand into her hair, biting down on his lip as he tried to move beneath her, not wanting her to feel like she was doing anything wrong because she definitely wasn’t. His other hand moved to massage her shoulder.

Chloe shifted when he moved, but lifted her lips higher, brushing them against her skin as she moved back toward his neck. She was feeling better, but she didn’t feel anywhere near confident enough to go down on him and she didn’t want him to think that’s where this was going.

Oliver slid her shirt up a couple inches, his fingers tracing circles on her skin once more as she kissed his neck. He tugged her up gently, meeting her lips once more and nipping gently at her lower lip. 

She parted her lips for him and sat up more, but didn’t pull her hands away from his bare chest, adding a little more pressure as she rubbed her fingers over his skin.

He sat up with her, winding his arms around her waist as he slowly deepened the kiss, their tongues touching. He tugged lightly at the bottom of her shirt, then pulled away to look at her.

“It’s okay,” she told him, smiling even though she felt butterflies in her stomach. He may have seen her before, but she didn’t remember the look he’d had on his face then.

Oliver studied her a moment longer, but when she didn’t take back her consent, he slowly pulled her shirt up and off, letting it drop to the floor alongside his. His gaze swept over her and he smiled as he lowered his mouth to her collarbone, kissing her there softly.

She shivered, closing her eyes and lifting her hands to his arms, pulling him closer.

He kissed his way up her neck to her jaw, then pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth, teasing. Her skin was warm and he couldn’t resist the temptation to kiss her neck once more, suckling lightly.

Chloe made a quiet noise and held her breath, surprised both that she had made a noise at all and how good his lips felt against her skin.

His lips curved upwards at the noise she made, but he stopped before he was tempted to leave a mark. Not the best way to win over her dad. Probably not the best way to win over her cousin, either. He kissed his way slowly down to her collarbone once more, shifting so they were both laying down on her bed, side by side. He propped himself up on one elbow, his other hand moving to rest on her abdomen, his thumb moving back and forth over her belly button.

She looked up at him and smiled, so far, it was really nice and all his touches and kisses were making her feel pretty amazing. With a deep breath, she leaned closer to him and pressed her lips to his again as she wrapped her arm around his back, rubbing her hand over it.

Oliver returned the kiss, then broke it to kiss his way down to her chest, pausing as he skimmed the top of her breasts and looking up at her.

Chloe held her breath, her eyes wide and dark as she looked up at him, her stomach tight, but she nodded. She trusted him completely and there was no one she’d rather learn all of this with.

He could feel the tension in her body, so he took his time pressing tiny, soft kisses against her. 

She shifted on the bed, staying as close to him as she could even as she laid back against the mattress, trying to make this more comfortable for both of them.

Oliver shifted, too, hovering over her and holding himself up on his arms. He met her eyes once more and then dropped his head so he could kiss the top of her left breast, just over her heart, tongue darting out to taste her skin. 

Chloe moaned quietly at the feel of his warm tongue so close to her breast, she felt nervous about him seeing her without a bra, but she wanted to feel more of that, so she took a deep breath. “You can take it off,” she whispered, cocking her head to look down at him.

He paused at that, looking up at her. “You sure?” he whispered back.

Biting on her bottom lip, she nodded, holding his gaze.

He nodded, too, shifting on the bed so he was sitting once more, then carefully unhooked the bra’s front clasp. He didn’t part the material yet, simply gazed down at her for a moment. 

With a deep breath, she lifted a hand to the back of his neck, pulling him closer again and lifting her head to kiss him. That should have made her less self-conscious.

Oliver kissed her deeply, lifting a hand to cup her cheek. “I love you,” he murmured.

Chloe closed her eyes at that and wrapped her free arm around his back, smiling as she relaxed once again. “I love you, too,” she whispered, brushing her nose against his.

He slowly slid a hand up to part the material of her bra, knuckles brushing against the side of her breast when the bedroom door suddenly flew open. 

“Chloe, we have--” Lois’s voice trailed off when she caught sight of Oliver on top of her. “Holy shit.” 

Her eyes shot open and Chloe turned to look at the door. “Lois!” she gasped and when her cousin didn’t move, she added, “close the door!” 

Oliver quickly covered her up with his body so she was out of sight from both Lois _and_ Lex. “Get out,” he said, gritting his teeth.

“Hurry up and get dressed,” Lex said, staring at them for a moment before turning away. 

Once the door was closed, Chloe groaned and hid her face against Oliver’s chest, wondering if Lois and Lex would notice if they snuck out the window. 

He pulled her closer to him, sitting up and letting out a breath, annoyed. “People need to learn to knock,” he grumbled, smoothing her hair back from her face. 

“I should have locked the door up here too,” she muttered, taking a deep breath and looking up at him, but keeping her arms wrapped around him.

“We’ll remember that next time.” He kissed her forehead, pulling back from her and reaching down to fasten her bra once more.

“Thanks,” she whispered, smiling up at him then lifting her head and kissing him quickly once more. 

“Welcome.” He reluctantly slid off the bed, picking up both of their shirts and holding hers out to her before sliding his own over his head.

She sat up and slid her shirt back on before standing up as well. “It better be important.”

He smiled at that, nodding in agreement and reaching out to open the door, glaring at Lex and Lois. 

Chloe took a deep breath and ran her fingers through her short hair before following him outside. “You know, if the door is closed, you’re supposed to _knock_ , Lois.”

“I had no idea you had company,” Lois told her, turning around to look at her. 

“Still,” Chloe said, arching her eyebrows at her cousin. 

“There are more important things for us to talk about,” Lex said firmly.

“No kidding,” Lois muttered, shaking her head. “Like the fact that Lex’s dad is a psycho.” 

Chloe frowned at that, glancing at Oliver then back on the other two. “What are you talking about?” she asked. 

Lex’s jaw was tight as he spoke again. “I found out who the girl is.”

“Who is she?” Oliver asked, folding his arms across his chest.

“My sister,” Lex told him. “Well, half sister anyway, since she was born after my mother died.” 

“Your _sister_? How do you know? Did you find her?” Chloe asked. 

Shaking his head, Lex turned to look at her. “But I found one of her hideouts. There were documents there for her, I think part of the staff knows about her.”

Oliver simply stared at him in disbelief. “Your father’s holding his own daughter hostage?” 

“He killed your parents, and tried to kill Chloe. Obviously he’s capable of anything to get what he wants,” Lex said, his expression blank. 

Chloe took a deep breath and glanced at her cousin, she hadn’t exactly told Lois about Lionel trying to kill her. But that wasn’t the point of this conversation. 

“Excuse me. What?” Lois narrowed her eyes. “Tried to kill Chloe?” 

“He cut the brakes in my car, we think to stop me from telling Ollie that he was trying to buy out Queen Industries,” Chloe said quietly with a sigh then focused on Lex. “You found one of her hideouts, so that should make it easier to find her now, right?”

“In theory,” Lex answered, not meeting her eyes. 

“We have a lot more catching up to do than you let on,” Lois informed her, not looking very happy.

Chloe looked up at Lois and took a deep breath, nodding before she stepped closer to Lex. “Do you think you could find out from the staff? Any information on your sister that might help us? I can find their addresses and we can go to their houses and ask them so we know they’re not being watched.” She felt terrible for Lex, so she wanted to do everything she could to help out. She couldn’t imagine what it must feel like to find out the one parent you have left is not a bad guy, but the worst type of person you can imagine. 

“Already got their addresses. I copied Dad’s entire personnel file from his computer.” He pulled a tiny external hard drive out of his pocket and held it out to her.

She smiled softly at him as she took it, nodding. “I think the easiest way to narrow it down would be to find the ones who never leave the mansion.” She paused, turning toward Oliver. “Who was the old lady who was there all through winter break? She has to know, right?”

“Mary Jones,” Oliver murmured, looking at Lex.

“Except she lives at the mansion, she has no family,” Lex said, looking between them. 

“Well, then we need to create a situation for her to get out,” Chloe said. “Maybe a grocery trip? Or a doctor’s appointment?”

He nodded at Chloe. “Doctor’s appointment would be believable. Right?” He looked at Lex once more.

“Yeah, I can set that up,” Lex told them, thinking for a moment then nodding. 

“Good, we will get all the information we can out of her, and as soon as we get the chance, we’ll come find Lutessa again,” Chloe said confidently, mostly for Lex’s sake.

“We’ll figure this out, man,” Oliver said quietly.

Lois pursed her lips. “Great, so we find out more information and then what? Break her out? Call the police on Lex’s dad? What’s the plan?” 

Lex looked from Chloe, to Oliver and straightened before focusing on Lois. “The police won’t be able to touch him, he has people in his pocket all over the state.” 

“So we can bring her here, or go somewhere with her where we can take turns taking care of her. I’m sure Mrs. Kent would help if we needed,” Chloe suggested. She wasn’t thrilled about telling anyone else, but if the four of them had to be at school, they’d need someone to take care of the girl and Mrs. Kent seemed like the best option.

“She seems like the kind of person to help out like that.” Lois had only met her once, but Mrs. Kent definitely wasn’t the type to let a young girl be held hostage. 

“Good idea, Chloe. And considering my father’s been in love with her for years, he won’t hurt her.” Lex nodded.

“Wait, _what_?” Chloe asked, her eyes widening. She wasn’t sure if she was more surprised by the fact that Lionel had feelings for Martha Kent, or by the fact that Lionel had _feelings_. Period.

He smirked at her reaction, then shrugged. “Years,” he said again. 

Oliver rubbed a hand over his face. He could have lived without that information, personally.

“Ew,” Chloe said, making a face. “Does she know?”

“Not that I know of.” 

“Getting off track here,” Oliver pointed out.

“Right,” Chloe agreed, shaking her head. “Okay, so, doctor’s appointment with Mary Jones for Lex. I can talk to Mrs. Kent, but it does beg the question, do we want to loop Clark and by extension Lana into all this?”

Lex made a face. “Not really. At least not Lana.” 

“I guess we need to wait and see what we find out before we talk to Mrs. Kent, then. If we need her help, if we can get your sister out of the mansion, then we talk to her and consider talking to Clark.” Chloe suggested, glancing between the three of them. 

“Sounds fair,” Lois agreed, looking at Lex for his opinion.

“Yeah,” Lex agreed, too. “If she’s been there this whole time, it won’t be easy to make her leave.”

“How could she have lived at the mansion the whole time, though, and neither of us noticed something weird until recently?” Oliver frowned.

“Oliver is right,” Chloe said. “I’ve been going to the mansion for years and the first time I heard something weird was during winter break when we were down by the wine cellar,” she said. 

“Maybe Lionel was keeping her somewhere else,” Lex said. “The answer might be in those files I gave you.”

“Then I guess we should get to work.” Oliver glanced at Chloe and chewed the inside of his cheek. He had a feeling it wasn’t going to be as easy as it sounded.

Chloe looked back at him and nodded, taking a deep breath before starting back into her room to boot her computer. At least they _had_ been interrupted for a very good reason, one they should be focusing on anyway.


End file.
